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Paradise Papers

The Paradise Papers is a global investigation that reveals the offshore activities of some of the world’s most powerful people and companies.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 95 media partners explored 13.4 million leaked files from a combination of offshore law firms and company registries of some of the world’s most secretive countries. The files were obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

As a whole, the Paradise Papers expose offshore holdings of political leaders and their financiers as well as household-name companies that slash taxes and operate in secret. Financial deals of billionaires, celebrities and sports stars are also revealed in the documents.

The leak details the offshore activities of 13 advisers, donors and members of President Donald J. Trump’s administration, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s interests in a shipping company that makes millions of dollars from an energy firm whose owners include Russian President Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law and a sanctioned Russian tycoon.

President Donald Trump vowed to fight the power of global elites and told voters he would put “America First.” But surrounding Trump are a number of close associates who have used offshore tax havens to conduct business.

There is nothing illegal about doing business offshore, but the offshore industry’s role in allowing tax avoidance and financial secrecy has generated significant public interest.

Each of these Influencers, featured in an interactive graphic created by ICIJ’s journalists, artist Rocco Fazzari and Alvaro Ortiz’s Populate firm, has appeared in the leaked Paradise Papers files, either personally or through a related company.

The Pulitzer Center partnered with ICIJ to fund the interactive and an animated video explainer on how the offshore accounts are used to shield profits from taxation. The Center is also working with ICIJ on educational curricular materials to take this important project out to our network of schools and universities.